OUGD602 | Studio Brief 02 - Feedback Evidence NOURISH

MENU

In general the response to the menu was very positive, with only minor changes -

• Reduce gutter
• Try bringing leaves into the rest of the design
• Reduce the width of the column for the 'Our Promise Section' 

DESIGNS SHOWN -

Considering this feedback and personal opinion the menu was improved. The first major change being headers. This was changed to the typographic style of the posters. The reason for this was the fun element of the brand was being lost and the menu appeared too serious. The new playful type means the menu is more exciting to read and it promotes the Nourish brand further. 

Minor layout adjustments were made, however the gutter was not increased as this would be too time consuming and would potentially cause major issues within the layout. As the columns were still readable this was left. 

Leaves were also brought in to replace the circles for a better brand consistency. 

OUGD602 | Studio Brief 01 - Final Personal Branding

My final personal branding has a much more stripped back approach to previous years yet I have found it to be the most successful. The difference in this branding to previous years is firstly this year I have not created a logo. In reflection, no logo has ever fully communicated who I am, and this will always be difficult. I struggled to find places to use a logo where a logo was really required. Furthermore, as my branding naturally developed, there was no place for a logo as it was succeeding without it. The second difference is the lack of business cards. As previously stated, no place was ever found to use these. Promotion on social media appeared to be far more successful and through these platforms I can communicate who I am in much more detail.

Considering these, my branding is a focus on type, colour, composition and guidelines as well as my new personal photographs.

TYPE

The typeface chosen to represent me is Baskerville. This is for several reasons. Firstly, the type communicates everything that I am and everything that I want my employers to interpret. A serif communicates organisation, maturity, professionalism, skill and more. I felt that I needed a sophisticated approach for entrance to industry and this typeface achieved this. Furthermore, the typeface is hugely flexible and adaptable (further attributes I would like to communicate about myself). The range of weights and font styles allow the type to work in any scenario, varying its impact and tone of voice. Finally, the font although formal, does not lack personality. I wanted my creativity and fun personality to be demonstrated through the branding and although formal, Baskerville achieves this - particularly in the style that I have used it.

COLOUR

I had always aimed for my slightly girly personality and style to come through my personal branding without being overwhelming. I feel that in first year, my branding lost sight of this, and in contrast my second year branding was far too feminine, excluding audiences and appearing more illustrative that a communication from a graphic designer.

This year I have achieved a balance between the two with the use of a minimal, more feminine palette. The palette features only 2 colours, white and peach. With peach acting as the primary colour for my self-branding, it does speak of a feminine designer with a girly personality, however it is somewhat tamer than pink or floral patterns. It does not exclude audiences but allows me to communicate myself. This combined with Baskerville in bold reduces the femininity slightly making it appealing to more. I wanted to establish a defining colour for my branding, I didn't want it to make too much of a fuss, so pairing this colour with white (as the occasional grey) allows the colour and content to speak for itself. The simplicity of this new branding communicates quicker and more clearly and achieves the professional appearance desired.

Composition & Guidelines 

Throughout the branding process, I have adopted composition styles for the branding that have been applied consistently throughout. This consistency achieves a well-rounded design that the audience can navigate more clearly.

Styles have included the use of underline to highlight titles and divide content. As well as the use of individual lines to divide paragraphs. There has also been a focus on ensuring all content lines up, with many titles and paragraphs forming into an equal width.

Below are the results of my final brand development. I expect that this will develop during my first year in industry -

OUGD602 | Studio Brief 01 - Photography & Social Media

As a part of growing my network and communication within the graphic design industry, I have been working on developing my social media accounts as this is the most appropriate format for me to connect with the industry and develop contacts within Liverpool. 

For this I have been applying my branding used on my CV and portfolio in a minimalist style. I am aiming to bring my branding together consistently across all three outputs. I have adopted an underlined style using Baskerville in bold italic to make bold statements and headers. This has been the most aesthetically sucessful and also allows me to make statements about myself and my work. This method is also flexible allowing me to use it for social media promotion and on my portfolio.

As another part of my self-promotion I decided to source a photographer to take professional head shots. I felt that high quality photos promoted the professional appearance that my branding aims to communicate, rather than a selfie which feels too personal and handmade. I have used these photos across my social media, in particular LinkedIn, which is the most appropriate place for its use. I am aiming to demonstrate to the world that I am prepared for the industry. 

Twitter Feed

twitter header

One of many head shots 

OUGD602 | Studio Brief 02 - Raw Studio Talk

A talk from Raw this afternoon was very interesting. Their moto of 'do good work for nice people' was particularly inspiring and their whole approach and ethos highlighted the importance of knowing who you are as a designer.

Important and inspiring points raised in the talk included -

-If you want to do something, do it! You'll only regret what you didn't do.
-Maintain a life work balance.
-Work for yourself not others.
-Research is very very important.
-Good things take time.
-Have fun and make it up as you go along.

I was particularly inspired by the career path that Rob had followed. Taking the plunge and launching his own studio, but then making the decision to finish this was inspiring. Seeing them develop their own products has been an eye-opener, demonstrating that anything can be done if you put your mind to it. Robs advice will definitely stick with me for the future as I want a career that I want and enjoy rather than one that is manufactured by the industry.

OUGD602 | Studio Brief 02 - Developing personal practice - Photography lighting refresher

I recently attended a lighting refresher for photography as I felt that this is an important skill in general, but particularly with final projects coming up that will need to be photographed. I would also like to strengthen this skill so I feel that I can confidently add it to my CV.

I learned lots that I had not known previously from this session including -

• The problem of shadows. The session taught me how to get rid of shadows using the lighting.
• My technical understanding of how to use the lighting kits developed. 
• My general knowledge of how to use a DSLR was improved. 
• I was reminded of how to set up the white balance - a set-up I had forgotten. 
• I also developed a  stronger understanding of the purposes of all the equipment 

Although this refresher was very useful, I still feel very confused by using the manual mode on a DSLR - I am aiming to study this in my own time in order to develop my confidence for setting this up.